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“This was such a great tea and now I can’t find it anywhere. :( It’s medium boldness, rich and aromatic but not astringent. It also doesn’t have a lot of caffeine. I can’t quite put my finger on...”
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“Such a weird tea. I made it with a fillable tea bag because it’s so fine. One level 1/2tbsp was only 1.7g, so I added a bit more to bring it up to 2g, steeped for 3min. It tastes… like tea. Like,...”
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From Metropolitan Tea Company

"Exceedingly full character tending malt with exotic African profile. So thick you want to eat it with a spoon."

"From the air Changoi Tea Farm is a vast expanse of lush green fields shade trees and neatly clustered bungalows factory buildings and worker’s homes. To say the estate is orderly is an understatement. Changoi is owned and operated by our long time partners at Williamson Tea a family run company that has been in the tea business since 1869. Over the last 140 years or so Williamson’s management team has practically written the book on sustainable tea growing. As such the company follows a six-point credo: 1. Conservation of soil fertility and nutrients 2. Conservation of biodiversity 3. Sustainable energy use 4. Corporate social responsibility 5. Product value addition 6. Promotion of local and global economy. What’s more the company’s stated social goal is to elevate the standard of life of the present and future generations. To this end management provides workers’ families with hospitals schools and free housing. If Williamson sounds like the kind of tea company you’d be proud to do business with you’re right. The enviable results of all the care that goes into running their estates are quite probably the best cups ever produced in Africa if not the world. Changoi’s output is no exception as Lion’s Mane will attest.As noted at the top of the page Lion’s Mane is a Broken Mixed Fannings (BMF) grade tea. BMF grade sometimes known as Fines or Dusts is comprised of the finest siftings left behind after sorting CTC grade teas (Cut Tear and Curl). The tea produces a thick liquoring cup with a deep color and robust flavor profile. How robust? BMF grade teas from lesser estates are frequently used to beef up tea bag teas. Suffice it to say Changoi Lion’s Mane’s strength makes it a rather quick brewing tea. (The strength also inspired its name – traditionally a Lion’s mane is a symbol of strength and power.) If you’re looking for a seriously brisk tea to get you going in the morning or pick you up in the afternoon look no further."

2 Tasting Notes

This was such a great tea and now I can’t find it anywhere. :( It’s medium boldness, rich and aromatic but not astringent. It also doesn’t have a lot of caffeine. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is but it definitely has a unique taste that I imagine comes from being grown in Africa. You don’t want to use water that’s too hot as the tea is fine, else you’ll mostly just taste the dark bold flavor and miss the more delicate notes. Also, I wouldn’t use the tea bag as that keeps the flavor from diffusing into the water.

Preparation

Metropolitan Tea Company is a wholesaler – one of the biggest in North America, so odds are that this blend is probably carried elsewhere but potentially under a different name. In my experience, a lot of places don’t completely change the catalog names of MTC blends or also leaves the tea description provided by MTC the exact same – with a bit of digging you could probably find it offered by another company! :)

Such a weird tea. I made it with a fillable tea bag because it’s so fine. One level 1/2tbsp was only 1.7g, so I added a bit more to bring it up to 2g, steeped for 3min. It tastes… like tea. Like, there’s nothing unpleasant about this, no bitterness or excessive astringency, but there’s also nothing particularly interesting about it. Reading the description I was something much more “punch you in the face and wake you up” but it wasn’t really that. I resteeped for 6min and the resulting cup is drinkable but a bit bland. Meh.